Canadian banks directed over US$100B to oil and gas in 2023: report

The top 60 banks together committed US$708 billion.

Canadian banks provided almost US$104 billion in fossil fuel funding last year despite the urgent need to reduce emissions, says the latest annual Banking on Climate Chaos report.

The report out Monday from a coalition of climate groups said the total includes US$28.2 billion from RBC to place it seventh globally and US$24 billion from Scotiabank to rank 10th.

The top 60 banks together committed US$708 billion.

For most of Canada’s five biggest banks, 2023 was among their lowest levels of oil and gas financing in the eight years since the Paris climate agreement.

BMO had its outright lowest year of fossil fuel financing since 2016, with US$15.8 billion. CIBC, TD and RBC each had their lowest with the exception of pandemic year 2020, while it was the fourth-lowest year for Scotiabank.

While reduced, the numbers are still stark, said Richard Brooks, climate finance director at Stand.earth.

“There’s still massive amounts of money on the scale of, you know, tens of billions of dollars that are flowing into extreme forms of oil and gas, that are flowing into expansion projects that lock us in for a long time.”

Canadian banks understand their important role in helping lead an orderly transition to a low-carbon future, said Canadian Bankers Association spokeswoman Maggie Cheung in a statement.